Japan evens record with victory over Britain

VANCOUVER, British Columbia – Team Aomori defeated Britain 11-4 in nine ends in the round-robin stage of the women’s curling tournament on Friday night.

With the win, Japan achieved its initial goal of going at least 2-2 in the first four contests — against four tough opponents — in a bid to reach the four-team knockout stage.

Japanese skip Moe Meguro made a brilliant double take-out to score five points in the ninth end, forcing Britain to concede at the Vancouver Olympic Centre.

“My last shot turned out even better than I hoped,” said Meguro, one of the two remaining team members from the Turin Olympics. “We see Britain as a close rival in the race for the last four spots, so it was a match we had to win.”

Britain suffered its second loss in five games in the tournament featuring 10 teams.